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On Friday, Sept. 20, the Fort Dale Academy Eagles claimed a narrow win with a 21-20 victory in overtime against the Morgan Academy Senators, capping off a dramatic contest that saw both teams battle down to the wire.

“They showed a lot of fight there at the end,” Fort Dale head coach Eric Folmar said. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot over and over again all night with mistakes and penalties and turnovers and just didn’t really play our brand of football. But we always say champions find a way and tonight our guys found a way to make a play there at the end.”

The Senators came ready to fight for the win and memorialized their fallen teammate, Caden Tellier, who succumbed to fatal injuries sustained in the team’s Aug. 23 contest with Southern Academy, by wearing his number, 17, on their helmets and fan jerseys.

“I learned about [our team] the night that Caden got hurt,” said Senators’ head coach Jacob Webb. “They are a resilient group and they’re tough. They love each other and they’re playing their guts out. We’ve lost the last two games by one score, so we’re coming up a little short but we are doing better.”

Fort Dale struck first, taking a 7-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Eagles extended their lead with a rushing touchdown early in the second quarter, making it 14-0 after a successful point after. Morgan Academy fought back, scoring just before halftime with a rushing touchdown and trimming Fort Dale’s lead to 14-7.

Morgan tied the game in the fourth quarter with another rushing touchdown and an extra point, bringing the score to 14-14. Fort Dale threatened late in regulation, but a fumble on the Morgan 5-yard line halted their drive, pushing the game into overtime.

In overtime, Fort Dale regained control with a rushing touchdown, bringing the score to 21-14 after the successful point after.  Morgan responded with their own touchdown, cutting the score to 21-20. The Senators went for the win with a two-point conversion attempt but came up short, sealing the Eagles’ narrow victory.

“Hats off to Morgan. They showed up with a lot of fight and gave us everything we wanted,” Folmar added. 

The Eagles will face Patrician Friday and Folmar stressed the team’s intention to prepare for the challenge.

“We need to learn how to prepare,” Folmar said. “I think some of our guys got a little complacent from where we are at. We’ve had a little success and have become a little stagnant.

“Hopefully tonight is a wakeup call that we’ve got to work hard Monday through Thursday preparing for the game on Friday, to show up and perform well.”